Charles Avison

Charles Avison was a talanted organist, musicographer and composer. He was patronized throughout most of his life and was a director of music in Newcastle until his death. He provided places and organizational skills for many performances in Newcastle and Durham and he tutored students on the violin, harpsichord and flute. His masterful work "An Essay on Musical Expression" broaches musical effections on human emotion, critical essays concerning composers, and an analysis on the performance of concertos. Avison's concerti grossi for strings and concertos scored for "Use of Performers on Harpsihord" were arranged in numerous ways so as to be adaptable for different instruments. His style is reminiscent of others but his diversity (organist, composer and musicogrpaher) made Avison a renaissance person during the Baroque era. ~ Keith Johnson